Two weeks since releasing the first large-scale OpenStack public cloud, Rackspace have launched a private equivalent. Available now as a free download, the release - codenamed "Alamo" - is touted in marketing materials to take “less than an hour” to deploy.

Being based on OpenStack, the USP of Rackspace’s Private Cloud offering is both its openness - preventing vendor lock-in - and their well-regarded ‘Fanatical support’. Escalation support will for now cost $2,500 plus $100 for each node under management.

The company is making clear that their private cloud offering isn’t a separate distribution of OpenStack, and will continue to be updated as often as its public sibling. Though they’ve yet to set a regular release pattern, Rackspace GM of private clouds Jim Curry told The Register they expect Private Cloud releases to lag behind by around 45-60 days.

Rackspace, a key driver of the OpenStack project, may have been the first to market with OpenStack-based cloud product, but RedHat are close behind (with their own offerings due early next year) and HP have recently released their OpenStack-powered cloud service.

Version 2 of the Public Cloud, to be based on the upcoming Folsom release due at the end of next month, will also contain a range of managed services, including monitoring, capacity planning, patching, and upgrading of private clouds.

There’s a getting started guide available for those looking to test it out for themselves - well, after the 1.8GB download.

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